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The Buffer Effect: The Role of Color When Advertising Exposures Are Brief and Blurred

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  • Michel Wedel

    (Department of Marketing, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742)

  • Rik Pieters

    (Department of Marketing, Tilburg School of Economics and Management, Tilburg University, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands)

Abstract

What is the role that color plays in consumers’ perception of the gist of ads during the increasingly brief and blurred exposures in practice? Two studies address this question. The first study manipulates the level of blur of the exposure and the presence or absence of color in the ad image, during exposures that lasted 100 milliseconds (msec). It reveals a buffer effect of color: color contributes little to gist perception when sufficient visual detail is available and ads are typical, but color enables consumers to continue to perceive the gist of ads accurately when the exposure is blurred. The second study finds that color inversion of the entire ad deteriorates gist perception, but that color inversion of the background scene does not affect gist perception when the exposure is blurred. This provides evidence that the color composition of the central object in the ad scene plays a key role in protecting the gist perception of advertising under adverse exposure conditions. The underlying mechanism is likely to be cognitive rather than sensory. Implications for advertising theory and design are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Michel Wedel & Rik Pieters, 2015. "The Buffer Effect: The Role of Color When Advertising Exposures Are Brief and Blurred," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(1), pages 134-143, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:34:y:2015:i:1:p:134-143
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.2014.0882
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Meyers-Levy, Joan & Peracchio, Laura A, 1995. "Understanding the Effects of Color: How the Correspondence between Available and Required Resources Affects Attitudes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(2), pages 121-138, September.
    2. Wedel, Michel & Pieters, Rik, 2008. "Eye Tracking for Visual Marketing," Foundations and Trends(R) in Marketing, now publishers, vol. 1(4), pages 231-320, August.
    3. Rik Pieters & Michel Wedel, 2012. "Ad Gist: Ad Communication in a Single Eye Fixation," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 59-73, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Song, Danyang & Wang, Shichao & Ou, Carol & Chen, Xi & Liu, Ruitao & Tang, Haihong, 2021. "How do video features matter in visual advertising? An elaboration likelihood model perspective," Other publications TiSEM 37845995-5426-470a-8630-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Silvia Cachero-Martínez & Rodolfo Vázquez-Casielles, 2018. "Developing the Marketing Experience to Increase Shopping Time: The Moderating Effect of Visit Frequency," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-21, November.

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